(CNN) – Beleaguered New York mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner got into a war of words Wednesday with a man who lashed out at him for being "married to an Arab," in addition to chastising the former congressman about his well-documented sexting scandal.

The incident began inside a bakery in Brooklyn's Borough Park neighborhood, where the man yelled out to Weiner, who had just bought cookies and an iced coffee, "You're a real scumbag."

(CNN) – If a bunch of governors got together and wrote a book on things to avoid when you're a state executive, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley might have an entertaining and lighthearted chapter to contribute.

"What not to do ... getting locked out of the Governor’s mansion in your robe while sending the kids off to school. sigh...#adayinthelife,” Haley wrote on her public Facebook page Wednesday morning.FULL POST

(CNN) – Secretary of State John Kerry said Wednesday he has "no doubt" President Barack Obama will soon make a speech on Syria from the Oval Office.

Kerry's comment came at the end of a four-hour congressional hearing before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, where he faced questions on the president's proposal to take military action in Syria.FULL POST

CNN's GUT CHECK | for September 4, 2013 | 5 p.m.
– n. a pause to assess the state, progress or condition of the political news cycle

WHOSE RED LINE? OBAMA DISTANCES HIMSELF FROM RED LINE IN SYRIA… At a press conference in Sweden: “First of all, I didn't set a red line – the world set a red line.”

GUT CHECK FLASHBACK: Obama at the White House press conference in August 2012… “We have been very clear to the Assad regime, but also to other players on the ground, that a red line for us is that we start to see a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being utilized and that would change my calculus, and my equation.”

FIRST HURDLE CROSSED: The Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday approved a resolution authorizing a U.S. military response to chemical weapons use by Syria, sending the measure to the full chamber for debate next week. The vote was 10 to 7 – with two Democrats and five Republicans voting against the measure.

*And this year, at the 50th annual Farm Bureau Country Ham Breakfast, a have to see it to believe it pairing: former foes Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul side by side, all smiles, eager to prove the Republican establishment and the tea party cannot only coexist, but can be allies.FULL POST

(CNN) – The Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday approved a resolution authorizing a U.S. military response to chemical weapons use by Syria, sending the measure to the full chamber for debate next week. The vote was 10 to 7.

(CNN) – All presidential decisions are, in the end, difficult and complex. And under any circumstance, the decisions on issues of war (surgical strikes included) are agonizing. The decision to use force - the repercussions, the cost in blood and treasure, the geostrategic implications - is complicated and the implications obviously immense.

But as the Syria story unfolds, there is an almost Shakespearean drama beneath the surface - one of political careers made and broken, of past positions held and almost abandoned. Not to mention the political enemies now finding themselves - awkwardly - on the same side of history.

(CNN) – Three top Obama officials underwent another round of questioning Wednesday in their effort to sway Congress to support the president's proposal for limited military strikes in Syria.

Secretary of State John Kerry, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey returned to the Hill, this time for a four-hour grilling by the House Foreign Affairs Committee.FULL POST

Stockholm, Sweden (CNN) - The headline from one Swedish newspaper summed up the days to come for President Barack Obama: "Obama in the Shadow of War."

During a fast-paced three-day overseas trip that includes visits to Stockholm, Sweden and a G-20 summit in Saint Petersburg, Russia, the president will face allied, yet skeptical leaders who remain unconvinced that military action is necessary to punish Syria for its alleged use of chemical weapons.